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Press Trust of India

Sergio Ramos scored twice to put Real Madrid on the brink of the Copa del Rey semi-finals as they came from behind to beat Girona 4-2 in a thrilling first leg.
Ramos' chipped penalty gave Madrid a 2-1 half-time lead at the Santiago Bernabeu after Lucas Vazquez had cancelled out Anthony Lozano's early strike on Thursday.
Girona, however, came again, Alex Granell scoring from the spot, only for Ramos to head home with 13 minutes left before Benzema added a fourth to extend the advantage ahead of next week's second leg.
Ramos now has nine goals in all competitions this season and these two were key as Madrid maintained what it is beginning to look like a second revival under coach Santiago Solari.
After a blistering start, Solari oversaw a dip at the turn of the year but his team have now won four out of their last five, the only slip coming in a second leg defeat to Leganes when progress was already all-but secured.
"Football never lets up, now comes Espanyol on Sunday and we want to ...

Ramos double puts Madrid within sight of the semi-finals

PTI Automatic

Floods and landslides in Indonesia have now killed at least 59 people, the government said Friday, after heavy rain pounded Sulawesi island and forced thousands to flee their homes.
"I've never seen something this bad -- this is the worst," Syamsibar, head of South Sulawesi disaster mitigation agency, told AFP, adding that 25 people were still missing.
Lashed by the heavy rain, rivers swelled and burst their banks, inundating dozens of communities in 11 districts of southern Sulawesi. Parts of the provincial capital Makassar have also been affected.
Gowa district suffered the heaviest casualties, with 44 people found dead, said Syamsibar, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
Some 3,400 people have been evacuated from their homes and given refuge in schools, mosques and tents.
Rescuers and residents waded through streets filled with waist-deep water, some carrying their possessions above their heads.
"I couldn't save all my belongings, my house was swept away," Makassar resident 

Indonesia floods, landslides death toll climbs to 59

Paul Pogba has the qualities to be captain of Manchester United, according to caretaker manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, who has overseen a dramatic return to form for the World Cup winner.
The France midfielder was told in September by then-manager Jose Mourinho that he would never captain the club again, days after an apparent disagreement over tactics.
Mourinho denied at the time that there had been any fallout between the pair, having taken the decision to strip Pogba of his role as United vice-captain.
The decision was made public days after Pogba appeared to question Mourinho's approach by telling reporters that United should "attack, attack, attack".
Pogba, who performed erratically for his club over the first half of the season, has scored five goals in six appearances since Solskjaer arrived as interim boss on December 19.
The Frenchman made his debut for United's reserve team when Solskjaer was their manager during the 25-year-old's first spell at the club.
The Norwegian said ..

Pogba is Man United captaincy material, says Solskjaer

Hosts Brazil were handed a favorable group at the 2019 Copa America draw in Rio de Janeiro but arch-rivals Argentina landed a tough appointment with Colombia.
Eight-time winners Brazil, the top seeds in Group A, were given a pool with minnows Bolivia, Venezuela and Peru on Thursday.
They will kick-off the tournament on June 14 against Bolivia in Sao Paulo.
World Cup hosts Qatar, making their debut in the South American tournament as guests, were not treated kindly by the draw, landing Argentina and Colombia in Group B, as well as Paraguay.
Fellow Asians Japan, making their second appearance after a disappointing debut in 1999, also face a tough task to make it through Group C as they drew record 15-time champions Uruguay, holders Chile and Ecuador.
Brazil, led by coach Tite, come into the tournament looking to make amends on home soil for their World Cup 2014 humiliation when Germany thrashed them 7-1 in the semi-finals.
The hosts, who will have observed with concern a foot injury ...

Brazil given kind Copa America draw, Argentina land Colombia

Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund resume their Bundesliga rivalry this weekend with both sides looking to avoid slipping up in the title race at home against relegation-threatened opposition.
Dortmund, who are six points clear of defending champions Bayern, host second-from-bottom Hanover on Saturday while VfB Stuttgart, who are 16th and also in the bottom-three, are Sunday's guests at Munich's Allianz Arena and are hoping to avoid a fourth straight league defeat.
Bayern coach Niko Kovac has a decision to make about who starts at centre-back for second-placed Bayern with neither 2014 World Cup winners Jerome Boateng nor Mats Hummels, both 30, sure of a starting place.
Kovac has said Niklas Suele is the only centre-back sure of a spot in the 11, leaving the experienced Germany stars to battle for the other berth.
Hummels started last Friday's 3-1 win at Hoffenheim, with Boateng on the bench, because "Mats was just a tiny bit better - we're talking a micron" explained Kovac.
The race .

Dortmund, Bayern out to avoid slip ups in title race

Five-time Olympic champion swimmer Nathan Adrian said he has testicular cancer but is confident of recovery and wants to compete at the 2020 Tokyo games.
In a statement on Twitter on Thursday, the 30-year-old 2012 100m freestyle gold medallist said he expects to be back swimming within "weeks" after starting treatment.
Adrian, who also has four Olympic gold medals as a member of US relay teams, said his illness had been diagnosed early.
"We caught it early, I have already started treatment and the prognosis is good," Adrian wrote.
"I will be back in the water in a few short weeks with my sights fully set on Tokyo."
Adrian has appeared in three Olympics, in 2008, 2012 and 2016, winning eight medals in total. He has also won 11 world championship medals throughout his career. Adrian meanwhile used news of his illness to encourage men to seek regular check-ups for their health.
"I've realized that too often we tend to avoid these important topics, ignore potential warning signs, and put .

Olympic champ Adrian has cancer, targeting Tokyo 2020

The remains of the first British explorer to circumnavigate the Australian continent and popularise the country's name have been found near a busy London railway station.
Archaeologists sifting through a vast burial ground near Euston station said Friday they had found a coffin plate identifying the last resting place of Royal Navy captain Matthew Flinders.
Flinders was buried on 23rd July 1814, but not before publishing "A Voyage to Terra Australis," which described his circumnavigation of Australia in 1802-1803 that proved it was a continent.
"Flinders put Australia on the map due to his tenacity and expertise as a navigator and explorer," said Helen Wass, an archaeologist overseeing the dig for the HS2 high speed rail project.
With an estimated 40,000 remains at the site, archaeologists were not sure they were going to find Flinders, whose resting place had been subject to much speculation.
"We were very lucky" said Wass, he "had a breastplate made of lead meaning it would not have 

Remains found of explorer who put Australia on the map

Senegalese international Kalidou Koulibaly and Napoli return to the San Siro on Saturday, a month after racism and violence overshadowed the team's Boxing Day match against Inter Milan, for the first of a Serie A and Coppa Italia double-header against AC Milan.
Carlo Ancelotti's side play an Italian league game against AC Milan this weekend before returning to the San Siro next Tuesday for a Coppa quarter-final showdown against Gennaro Gattuso's side.
Franco-Senegalese defender Koulibaly was targeted by monkey noises and racist chants during the 1-0 defeat to Inter on December 26 and has not played since having been hit with a two-match ban for sarcastically applauding referee Paolo Mazzoleni.
Ancelotti has warned that he will lead his team off the pitch the next time one of his players is subject to continued racist abuse.
The game was also overshadowed by the death of 39-year-old ultra Inter Milan supporter Daniele Belardinelli who was killed when he was struck by a car in clashes ..

Koulibaly and Napoli return to San Siro after racism storm

A prominent Vietnamese-Australian pro-democracy activist has been detained by security services on his return to Ho Chi Minh city, colleagues in Australia told AFP on Friday.
The detention of Chau Van Kham comes just days after an Australian blogger and author was arrested in China.
The retired businessman was on a "fact-finding" mission to the country, entering via Cambodia, according to colleague Phong Nguyen. Both men are members of the Viet Tan, one of a number of anti-government groups that Hanoi considers terrorist organisations.
Vietnamese authorities have accused the Viet Tan of "instigating violence", a charge the group rejects.
Colleagues said they did not know where Chau was being held, or whether the Australian government had been granted consular access.
It is believed he was detained on January 13. His wife and immediate family remain in Sydney.
"At the moment we don't know where he is," said Phong Nguyen. "He was aware of the risk, but he was determined to go on this ...

Australian democracy activist 'detained' in Vietnam

A former hitman for Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman has offered gruesome testimony in a US court about acts of torture and killings of rivals allegedly committed by the ex-Sinaloa boss.
It was the first time that the federal court heard details of executions carried out by El Chapo himself. The jury had heard other witnesses relate killings ordered by the once powerful drug lord.
While Guzman is not on trial for murder, federal prosecutors want to depict him as a violent and ruthless man ready to do anything to protect his business. He faces trafficking, firearms and money laundering charges that could see him jailed for life in the United States.
The former hitman, Isaias Valdez Rios -- who goes by "Memin" or "Memo" -- told the court on Thursday that he saw Guzman kill a member of the rival Arellano Felix cartel.
The victim had been tortured before he arrived at El Chapo's camp on the plane of Ismael "Mayo" Zambada, who led the Sinaloa organisation with Guzman.
"He had 

At El Chapo trial, ex-hitman tells of kingpin's gruesome tactics

The US Senate on Thursday blocked dueling plans to reopen shuttered federal agencies, a fresh setback in efforts to end a month-long government shutdown, but President Donald Trump signalled he could back a new proposal if it includes border security.
The legislative deadlock left Congress and the president red-faced and adrift as thousands of federal workers, some reliant on food banks to make ends meet, are about to miss a second paycheck.
But shortly after the votes, a possible way out of the deepening crisis began to take shape, when Senate leaders huddled in private to discuss a proposal to fund lapsed federal agencies for three weeks, to allow for negotiations over border security.
Asked if he would support the plan, discussed in private by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and top Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer, Trump was noncommittal, saying he would still want funding for his wall.
"If they come to a reasonable agreement, I would support it," he said, but added: "We have .

Dueling plans to end US shutdown fail in Senate, talks resume

The United States on Thursday ordered non-emergency embassy staff to leave Venezuela but stopped short of complying with a full expulsion demanded by Nicolas Maduro, who Washington says is no longer president.
The State Department in a notice said it had "ordered non-emergency US government employees to depart Venezuela". "The US government has limited ability to provide emergency services to US citizens in Venezuela," it said.
Amid deadly political clashes in the crisis-torn country, the State Department said that US citizens "should strongly consider departing Venezuela".
Maduro on Wednesday gave US diplomats 72 hours to leave the country after President Donald Trump, backed by major Latin American nations, said the leftist firebrand was no longer Venezuela's legitimate president.
The United States said it was ignoring the order as it did not believe Maduro was still president and instead recognised as interim leader Juan Guaido, the opposition head of the National Assembly.
But ...

US orders non-emergency embassy staff to leave Venezuela

The Islamic State group made an aborted attempt to retake a village from US-backed forces in eastern Syria Thursday, a monitor said, leaving 50 fighters dead on both sides.
The failed assault came a day after the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), who are backed by the US-led coalition, took the village of Baghouz from IS.
On Thursday, the jihadist group launched a counterattack including at least three suicide bombers wearing explosive belts against SDF fighters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Sixteen SDF fighters and 34 IS jihadists were killed in the assault aimed at retaking the village near the Iraqi border, the Britain-based monitor said. A further "21 IS fighters were taken prisoner as they tried to open up a gap" in defences and make an escape towards Iraq, Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said.
The SDF have since September been whittling away at a pocket of territory on the eastern banks of the Euphrates River in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.
The latest ..

Dozens killed in failed IS counterattack in east Syria: monitor

Pope Francis has said in Panama that the Church must work to overcome the world's "fears and suspicions" of migration, and pledged his support for "all efforts" to avoid further suffering in crisis-torn Venezuela.
The pope is being kept abreast of developments in nearby Caracas, and was praying for the people of Venezuela, Vatican spokesman Alessandro Gisotti said.
Francis is supporting "all efforts" to avoid further suffering for the population, he said.
Speaking from Panama in Central America -- the hub for US-bound migrants -- Francis said on Thursday migrants were simply seeking "the minimum conditions for a better future".
The Argentine pope was addressing Central American bishops on the first day of his visit for a global gathering of young Catholics for World Youth Day.
Earlier, in a speech to government ministers and members of the diplomatic corps at the foreign ministry, he called on political leaders to reject "all forms of corruption".
Young people, he said, insisted that .

Pope in Panama blasts 'fears and suspicions' over migration

Kemar Roach spearheaded a devastating West Indies fast bowling effort to rout England for 77 in their first innings and put his team in a commanding position on the second day of the first Test at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Thursday.
At stumps England had hit back in limiting the Caribbean side to 127 for six in their second turn at the crease. However, the hosts already have a formidable overall lead of 339 runs at the end of a day dominated by bowlers with 18 wickets falling.
If that trend were to continue into day three then England are likely to struggle to avoid suffering defeat inside three days, the same fate they suffered when the two teams last met at this venue in the finale to the previous tour in 2015.
It will take tremendous resolve by Joe Root's side to regain their composure at the crease after being swept aside so ruthlessly first time round.
Replying to the home side's first innings total of 289, highlighted by a top score of 81 from Shimron Hetmyer and James ...

Roach sends England tumbling as 18 wickets fall in Bridgetown

An Algerian television producer died from severe burns Thursday more than two weeks after setting himself on fire over unpaid wages, his son told AFP.
Youcef Goucem, 61, doused himself in flammable liquid and lit it in the offices of private channel Dzair TV on January 7 after claiming he had not been paid for work on a soap opera in 2017.
His desperate act stirred emotions in Algeria, with a hundred professionals working in television and cinema decrying the "anxiety" they face on the job.
Dzeir TV said it regretted "a commercial dispute that had unfortunately turned into a drama" in a statement after Goucem set himself ablaze.
The channel said Goucem had been reassured by the outlet's new boss that his claim was being processed.

Algerian TV producer dies after setting himself ablaze

The publisher and editor of a Toronto newspaper have been found guilty of promoting hate over articles and images that encouraged rape and denied the Holocaust.
The editor-in-chief James Sears, 55, and publisher LeRoy St. Germaine, 77, argued at trial that "Your Ward News" was satire.
But, according to local reports, the judge ruled on Thursday that the evidence of "unrelenting promotion of hate" in its pages was overwhelming. This included references to women as chattel and conspiracy theories about Jews.
A court official confirmed the verdict to AFP. Sentencing of the pair for willfully promoting hatred against identifiable groups is scheduled for April 26. They each face a fine of CAD 5,000 or up to six weeks in prison.
"We have Jesus on our side and we're going to appeal," Sears told reporters outside the courtroom after the verdict.
"I find it very hard to believe that what we published about Jews and women, which a lot of it is right out of the Bible (sic), is hate speech in ...

Canada newspaper editor, publisher found guilty of peddling hate

Twenty-six people have been killed since the latest wave of protests against Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro broke out four days ago, the Caracas-based Observatory of Social Conflict said Thursday.
The previous toll from the protests -- which began when a group of soldiers took over a command post in the north of the capital in defiance of the socialist regime -- had stood at 16.
In some places, armed forces have fired tear gas and rubber bullets to subdue protesters, some of whom threw stones.

Death toll in Venezuela protests this week reaches 26: NGO

President Nicolas Maduro announced on Thursday the closure of Venezuela's embassy and consulates in the United States having broken off diplomatic ties with President Donald Trump's government the day before.
Maduro made the call during a special session at the Supreme Court in which he accused the US of pushing opposition leader Juan Guaido, who declared himself Venezuela's acting president on Wednesday, into attempting a coup d'etat.

Maduro announces closure of Venezuela embassy in United States

The latest proposal backed by President Donald Trump to end the government shutdown -- which would reopen federal agencies and provide USD 5.7 billion for a border wall -- failed Thursday in the US Senate.
The measure did not get the 60 votes needed in the 100-member upper chamber of Congress to advance. A Democratic proposal, up for a vote later on, was also expected to fail.
The shutdown is now in its 34th day, with hundreds of thousands of federal workers left unpaid across the country and in US installations abroad -- and the knock-on effects affecting millions more.

AFP

AFP

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